Rethinking Care Through Social Reproduction: Articulating Circuits of Migration

Care has come to dominate much feminist research on globalized migrations and the transfer of labor from the South to the North, while the older concept of reproduction had been pushed into the background but is now becoming the subject of debates on the commodification of care in the household and changes in welfare state policies. This article argues that we could achieve a better understanding of the different modalities and trajectories of care in the reproduction of individuals, families, and communities, both of migrant and nonmigrant populations by articulating the diverse circuits of migration, in particular that of labor and the family. In doing this, I go back to the earlier North American writing on racialized minorities and migrants and stratified social reproduction. I also explore insights from current Asian studies of gendered circuits of migration connecting labor and marriage migrations as well as the notion of global householding that highlights the gender politics of social reproduction operating within and beyond households in institutional and welfare architectures. In contrast to Asia, there has relatively been little exploration in European studies of the articulation of labor and family migrations through the lens of social reproduction. However, connecting the different types of migration enables us to achieve a more complex understanding of care trajectories and their contribution to social reproduction.

The proposal of democratic citizenship in Hannah Arendt

The main purpose of this paper is to analyze Hannah Arendt’s citizenship proposal. The central thesis is that this proposal is possible in contemporary democracies, and it is adequate for developing and strengthening of political action. The work is divided in five sections. In the first, we develop a brief introduction on the studied issue. In the second and third section, we analyze, respec-tively, political and moral conditions that enable democratic citizenship, and the conditions that hinder the exercise of the same, according to Arendt. Then, we reflect critically on Arendt’s citizenship proposal. Finally, we conclude and we propose a set of civic challenges relate to current democracies in light of the above proposal.

Late-career international migration and reproductive work. A comparison between Peruvian and Ukrainian women in the Southern Europe

Research on the relationship between reproductive work and women´s life trajectories including the experience of labour migration has mainly focused on the case of relatively young mothers who leave behind, or later re-join, their children. While it is true that most women migrate at a younger age, there are a significant number of cases of men and women who move abroad for labour purposes at a more advanced stage, undertaking a late-career migration. This is still an under-estimated and under-researched sub-field that uncovers a varied range of issues, including the global organization of reproductive work and the employment of migrant women as domestic workers late in their lives. By pooling the findings of two qualitative studies, this article focuses on Peruvian and Ukrainian women who seek employment in Spain and Italy when they are well into their forties, or older. A commonality the two groups of women share is that, independently of their level of education and professional experience, more often than not they end up as domestic and care workers. The article initially discusses the reasons for late-career female migration, taking into consideration the structural and personal determinants that have affected Peruvian and Ukrainian women’s careers in their countries of origin and settlement. After this, the focus is set on the characteristics of domestic employment at later life, on the impact on their current lives, including the transnational family organization, and on future labour and retirement prospects. Apart from an evaluation of objective working and living conditions, we discuss women’s personal impressions of being domestic workers in the context of their occupational experiences and family commitments. In this regard, women report varying levels of personal and professional satisfaction, as well as different patterns of continuity-discontinuity in their work and family lives, and of optimism towards the future. Divergences could be, to some extent, explained by the effect of migrants´ transnational social practices and policies of states.

El concepto de ciudadanía en la obra de Dominique Schnapper: entre el tipo ideal sociológico y el ideal de sociedad democrática

Este artículo analiza la evolución del concepto de ciudadanía en la obra de Dominique Schnapper como uno de los ejemplos más destacados en la sociología contemporánea de una aproximación completa a la cuestión. A través de un recorrido exhaustivo por su obra, el objetivo es profundizar en la comprensión de la tensión entre la dinámica democrática y la idea de ciudadanía en cuanto que tipo ideal del vínculo social y como principio regulador de las sociedades democráticas. La autora propone en sus primeros trabajos una noción de ciudadanía vinculada al proceso político de construcción de la nación que no distingue entre la definición de un tipo ideal sociológico y la construcción de un ideal de sociedad. Esta confusión se corrige al introducir posteriormente en el análisis la incidencia de la democracia sobre las experiencias individuales de la ciudadanía, aportando una perspectiva de análisis de gran utilidad tanto para la comprensión de la dinámica contemporánea de las sociedades democráticas como para la necesaria defensa de la ciudadanía como vínculo social fundamental y como principio fundador de la legitimidad política.

Facultad por Facultad. Origen familiar y empleo de los licenciados en CCSS y Humanidades de la UCM en el año 2003

Muchos estudios encuentran un efecto del origen social sobre la ocupación y el salario incluso tras controlar la educación. Este efecto, que suele ser pequeño, puede ser un artificio resultante del deficiente control de la educación. Este trabajo examina la importancia de controlar en detalle la educación desagregando las carreras universitarias. Estudiamos el clasismo del mercado de trabajo para una promoción de titulados en Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) en los seis años entre su graduación en 1997 y 2003. Esta es la fecha de la encuesta gracias a la cual podemos medir la influencia del status social de los padres sobre las oportunidades de empleo de los hijos no con título universitario en general, sino con el mismo título universitario. Encontramos que la influencia del origen social sobre la clase profesional y los ingresos disminuye mucho cuando se controlan las titulaciones, y que no se observa en la mayor parte de ellas, pero sí en algunas, en concreto Políticas y Sociología y Económicas. Esta concreción allana el camino para investigar las vías por las que esta influencia se produce.

Gender stereotypes: sexuality and contraception in Mexican university students of middle class

Since feminist studies and gender perspective, sexuality and reproduction continue to be a topic of interest in Mexico. The objective of this study was to identify gender stereotypes in sexuality and contraception practices in Mexican university students of middle class. We used a qualitative methodology with in-depth interviews, using as analysis axes the sexual and contraception practices. The results showed gender stereotypes in university students as active, seductive and conquerors, characterized by a double standard of morality in the type of relationship: Formal where love, affection, trust and commitment are present, and Informal, where a love relationship or sexual exclusivity is not incorporated.

Ecuadorian migration and family strategies of social mobility: dialectic relation between emotional and financial capital

This text deals with transnational strategies of social mobility in Ecuadorian migrant households in Spain. We apply the capital accumulation model (Moser, 2009) for this purpose. The main target of this article is, beyond thinking in terms of capital stock and accumulation, the analysis in depth of the dynamics of the different types of capital, that is to say, how they interact with each other in the framework of the social mobility strategies of the migrants and their families. We are bringing into light the way some households adopt investing decisions in capitals that don't translate into any addition or earnings in all cases, on the contrary, concentrating all their efforts on the accumulation of a certain asset they may, in some cases, lead to a loss of another. We will concentrate our analysis primarily on the dynamics between the physical and financial capital and the social and emotional capital, showing the tensions produced between these two types of assets. At the same time, we will highlight how migrants negotiate their family strategies of social mobility in the transnational area. Our study is based in empirical material obtained from qualitative fieldwork (in-depth interviews) with families of migrants in the urban district of Turubamba Bajo -(south of Quito) and in Madrid. A series of households were selected where interviews were carried out in the country of origin as well as in the context of immigration, with different family members, analysing the transnational social and economic strategies of families of migrant members. Family members of migrants established in Spain were interviewed in Quito, as well as key informants in the district (school teachers, nursery members of the staff, etc.). The research was framed within the projects "Impact of migration on the development: gender and transnationalism", Ministry of Science and Innovation (SEJ2007/63179) (Laura Oso, dir. 2007-2010),"Gender, transnationalism and intergenerational strategies of social mobility", Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (FEM2011/26210) (Laura Oso, dir. 201-1-2015) and “Gender, Crossed Mobilities and Transnational Dynamics”, Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (FEM2015-67164).

Perspectives on gender, migration and transnational work: joint work of social reproduction and care in Southern Europe

This paper presents the "state of the art" and some of the main issues discussed in relation to the topic of transnational migration and reproductive work in southern Europe. We start doing a genealogy of the complex theoretical development leading to the consolidation of the research program, linking consideration of gender with transnational migration and transformation of work and ways of survival, thus making the production aspects as reproductive, in a context of globalization. The analysis of the process of multiscale reconfiguration of social reproduction and care, with particular attention to its present global dimension is presented, pointing to the turning point of this line of research that would have taken place with the beginning of this century, with the rise notions such as "global care chains" (Hochschild, 2001), or "care drain" (Ehrenreich and Hochschild, 2013). Also, the role of this new agency, now composed in many cases women who migrate to other countries or continents, precisely to address these reproductive activities, is recognized. Finally, reference is made to some of the new conceptual and theoretical developments in this area.

Social Transformations and Survivals in the Spanish Navy: The Midshipmen’s Access Requirements (1717-1869)

This work studies the creation, development and evolution of the Spanish midshipmen, through their requirements, from the early 18th century to the second third of the 19th century. The aims are: to know deeply an essential post in the Navy –naval cadet- that still requires an exhaustive review; and, primarily, to link the transformations of the candidates’ requirements to the social debates which were proposed in Spain during this two centuries. The so-called transition from the estates society to the class society, or the step from a society of inheriting criteria to a society based on achieving variables, did not occur linearly; changes and inertia went hand in hand with contradictions and conflicts, thus in this paper the Spanish midshipmen are analysed by several relationally variables.

Renta feudal, ejercicio del poder y diferenciación social campesina en el marco del señorío del cabildo salmantino en la Edad Media

El presente trabajo analiza la evolución del señorío eclesiástico en el largo plazo, para sumar al conocimiento de las formas señoriales de la Extremadura leonesa. Consideramos específicamente el caso del cabildo catedralicio salmantino entre los siglos XII y XV. Buscamos demostrar que no poseyó idéntica estructura durante todo el período y que sus transformaciones se explican por una compleja conjunción de variables. Dichas transformaciones incidieron sobre las estructuras sociales del agro, en especial sobre el desarrollo de procesos de diferenciación social campesina. Demostramos que la forma concreta en que se realizaba la renta podía alterar las estructuras sociales de las comunidades y que el desarrollo de las relaciones sociales asalariadas se encontraba muy vinculado a las coyunturas económicas y a las posibilidades y límites de la gestión señorial. Finalmente, ponemos de relieve que la transformación social no siempre fue irreversible y que su consolidación dependió de la incapacidad de los señores de ejercer sus poderes políticos.